


my head’s under water, but i’m breathing fine

by mermistia



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Kisses, MerMay, Secret Messages, adora lowkey has a knife kink, alright i’m done tagging random shit now, and, i rlly wasn’t gonna start another fic considering i have so many wips but................... mermay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 06:35:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18686104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mermistia/pseuds/mermistia
Summary: It’s strange, having to run to the beach just to visit your girlfriend.It’s stranger having her head rise out of the sea to meet you.





	my head’s under water, but i’m breathing fine

It’s strange, having to run to the beach just to visit your girlfriend. 

It’s stranger having her head pop out of the sea to meet you. 

“Glimmer?” Adora shifts uncomfortably on the sand. She likes the beach, she really does, and she’s found much more love for it as the sole place for meeting her girlfriend, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s 10pm, windy, and the sand is _freezing._ “Are you there? I found your bottle...”

She plays with the slip of paper in her hands. Adora supposes that messages in bottles washed up on the shore probably aren’t the best way to communicate with someone, but it’s not like there’s any possibility of Glimmer ever having a phone, so she can’t really see any alternative. She’s just thankful that she found the bottle before someone else did; another person discovering Glimmer’s existence could be catastrophic, especially after what happened last time. “Glim, come on. It’s freezing.”

Sea water slips over Adora’s feet, keeping the sand underneath her squishy and cold, and she takes an irritated step back, swearing under her breath as she stands on a shell. The beach is pretty enough at night, a dark endless expanse of water, silvery shells that seem to glow, and stars twinkling in the sky, but Adora definitely prefers it during the day, when she can see where she’s walking. Stepping on things in the dark is never fun, which she knows from personal experience. 

“Glimmer!” Adora can’t help but whine. “Are you there or not?”

A tinkling laugh sounds from the water, almost creepy and cryptic before it’s pierced by Glimmer’s trademark happy snorts, a pink crown of hair rising up a few metres out into the sea. The water bubbles as Glimmer starts to speak even though only the top of her head is showing, and Adora squints to see if she can make anything out. 

She can’t. 

“Babe, you know I can’t hear you,” she calls, and wraps her arms tight around her. Glimmer usually brings a sort of magical warmth along with her, but it doesn’t seem to be here this time. It’s still freezing, like the sand is covered in a thin sheet of ice rather than just salty water. 

“Sorry,” Glimmer’s voice says softly, almost too softly to hear, but she’s finally above the surface and Adora can see her, dressed in a shimmery purple vest and her signature cape, with the remnants of tears in her eyes. At least, Adora _thinks_ they’re tears. Considering Glimmer’s whole body is drenched in sea water, it’s sort of difficult to tell. 

She takes a few shaky steps forwards, wincing when her toes first hit the cold of the sea, but she doesn’t stop. The icy feeling is biting at her kneecaps (or at least, she _hopes_ that the cold is what’s biting at her kneecaps. Glimmer won’t ever let her live it down if it’s another crab), and creeping up her thighs, but she keeps walking, slipping on the underwater drops and ridges in the sand, until she can reach out and touch Glimmer’s fingertips with one hand. “What happened?”

Glimmer sniffs and looks up at her. “My mom.”

“What was it this time?” Adora gives her a sad smile. She knows that Glimmer’s relationship with her mother is rocky at best and disastrous at worst, and that they have a tendency to disagree about, well, _everything._

“I took some weapons to use for magic. She found them,” Glimmer huffs, and Adora can see the tears in her eyes clearer now. They’re faint, but they’re still there. “I know I’m not supposed to take weapons, but she never gives me any supplies! I’m _trying_ to learn to be a sea witch, but that’s hard when I don’t have anything to, y’know, _actually_ do magic with!”

Adora narrows her eyes. “How much did you take?”

Glimmer’s tail flaps nervously, slipping around Adora’s legs, lilac fins brushing over her shins and behind her knees. “Not _too_ much.”

_"Glimmer.”_

“A few swords, a shield, and some daggers.”

Adora snorts. “Not too much, huh?” She glances downwards as Glimmer pulls her hand out of her grip, and sighs at the realisation that she can’t see anything beneath the water. “Hands,” she says simply, feeling around in the darkness for a part of her girlfriend to hold. 

Glimmer wipes her eyes sadly with one hand, her other rising up and breaking the surface of the water. Adora flinches as droplets of sea water splash across her face and into her eyes, and she blinks in mild pain at the object that Glimmer is holding out to her. It’s small and smooth and sharp, with two shimmering gemstones embedded in it, purple and red side by side. 

Adora gasps softly. “Pretty...”

“It reminded me of us.” Glimmer smiles at her. “You should have it. At least that’s one dagger that I don’t have to give back to my mom.” 

“Can I really take this?” Taking a dagger from underwater royalty seems more than a little like stealing, and based on what Glimmer has said about her mother, Adora’s sure that Queen Angella isn’t someone that it’s wise to steal from. “Shouldn’t it... go back to the palace. Won’t they get mad I have it?”

Glimmer laughs. “Adora, _they_ don’t know you exist.” Her tail wraps around Adora’s waist and legs, pulling her in close, and Glimmer reaches up to lace a hand through the damp mess of Adora’s hair. “I wish I could show you the palace. You’d love it.” She kisses the tip of Adora’s nose gently, then the corner of her mouth. 

The kiss to her mouth leaves Adora breathless and wanting more. “Kiss me properly,” she says, hands finally finding something in the darkness, gripping onto Glimmer’s waist. Glimmer’s other hand is pressed against her back, and the dagger she’s holding is cool and firm, the pressure of the blade not hard enough to cut or be a threat, but still hard enough to leave Adora’s mind racing with thoughts. 

“You got a thing for knives?” Glimmer says against her lips, and Adora feels her fingers move and brush against her back, tracing the blade of the dagger. “You seem to be enjoying the feel of this one.”

Adora flushes. “What- no.”

A grin spreads across Glimmer’s face, and Adora ignores it in favour of kissing her lips, hard. They stay connected for more than a few seconds until Glimmer pulls away, and Adora watches in confusion as Glimmer stares at her blankly.

“Wait,” Glimmer says, eyes darting across Adora’s shoulders and collarbone. Adora shivers, following Glimmer’s eyes and staring down at her body. _"Wait.”_

“What?”

Glimmer doesn’t answer, her head ducking under the water and hiding her from view for a few seconds. The water ripples around her, and Adora would feel worried at her girlfriend’s sudden disappearance if she couldn’t still feel Glimmer’s tail wrapped firmly around her legs, not budging in the slightest. 

Glimmer’s head pops back up above the water, followed by the rest of her body. Her cape floats to the top and rests on the surface of the water, the damp fabric slowly sticking itself to Adora’s arms. “Are you seriously wearing shorts and a vest?”

Adora blinks. “I- yes. Should I not be?”

Glimmer blinks back. “Adora, it’s _freezing!_ Aren’t you cold? You’re not-" she ducks back under the water for a second before bursting up again, still speaking in outrage. “You’re not even wearing shoes!” 

“Your message said to be here at midnight! I had to rush!” Adora says. She’s frowning, and her voice is getting whinier by the second, but she can’t help but laugh at Glimmer’s expression; a mix of amusement, shock, and fondness. 

Glimmer shakes her head. “I sent that bottle like- like eight hours ago, Adora! Why were you rushing?”

Adora pauses. 

“Did you forget?” 

“I always forget!” Adora knows she’s fully whining now, and she’s close to stomping her feet in the sand like a child. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Glimmer laughs, soft and gentle and in love, lifting her body up to kiss Adora’s forehead. “Go home, Adora. You need to get warm.”

“You're my home," Adora says, and smiles happily when Glimmer blushes. "And anyway, what about you?” Adora squeezes her waist, leaning in to her girlfriend's body. She can feel their time together coming to an end, and she doesn’t want to wait a whole day to see Glimmer again. “You’re in a vest too.”

“I live here, Adora. I’m used to it being cold at this time. You, however,” Glimmer smiles, pressing the tip of her finger against Adora’s nose. “Should be in your bed, cosy and warm.”

“I should be here with you,” Adora whispers, and Glimmer lets her hand fall back down to her side as their foreheads press together. “And you should be here with me. I don’t want to leave you.”

“It’s only for a day,” Glimmer whispers back, and she presses the hilt of the dagger into Adora’s hand. “There. Something to remember me by.”

Adora grins. “You know, most people give their girlfriends things like roses and chocolates.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Well,” she says, and pulls gently on Adora’s ponytail. “When I find roses and chocolate in the sea, I’ll let you know.”

“You don’t have chocolate,” Adora laughs, shaking her hair free from Glimmer’s hold. “So sad. What _do_ you eat down there?”

“Believe me, you don’t want to know.” Glimmer squeezes Adora’s hand, still holding their bodies close together. “I really don’t want to go.”

Adora smiles softly. “Me neither.” She rests her head on top of Glimmer’s, nestling into the soft mass of glittery pink and purple, and closes her eyes. It’s safe, and secure, and for a few moments all she can hear is Glimmer’s breathing and the crashing of the waves, and it’s almost like they’re really together, almost like they’re not worlds apart. She wraps her arms around Glimmer, tight and certain, careful not to graze Glimmer’s skin with the dagger, and smiles faintly when Glimmer does the same. 

“You really should go,” Glimmer mumbles into her chest. Her head rests above Adora’s heart, and Glimmer listens to the soft thump as Adora keeps her there firmly, pressed safely above the rhythm of her heartbeat. “You’re so cold, and I don’t want you to get sick.”

“I don’t get sick,” Adora says, and stifles the sneeze that immediately threatens to rise up in her throat. “I’ll be okay, Glimmer.”

“Still, you shouldn’t risk it,” Glimmer says resolutely, and slides down and out of Adora’s hold and underwater. She reappears a few centimetres away, and reaches out to brush against Adora’s hand one last time. “This time tomorrow?”

“I’ll wear a jacket.”

“And actual pants, I hope.”

“Do you really hope that?” Adora raises an eyebrow, and Glimmer snorts, letting her head drop down as she blushes. “I didn’t think so.”

“Bye, Adora.”

Adora stands silently as she loses her contact with Glimmer’s fingertips, as her girlfriend dives back into the water with a splash, sending ripples in the water flowing into Adora’s waist. Glimmer’s tail breaks the surface of the water once more before she’s gone, deep underwater, out of sight, and gone.

“Bye, Glimmer.”

**Author's Note:**

> yeet i wrote smth
> 
> this is the most productive that i've been in. 84 years. send help :)
> 
> anyway uhhhh my tumblr is @mermistia (it doesn't have much on it rn but. im getting there. im slow) and also i have,,, some more she-ra fics in the works (catradora n catrapta),,, so watch out for them within the next seven years
> 
> also lmao i did actually proofread this BUT i am. very tired so there's probably still mistakes


End file.
